The Well-Appointed Desk

Link Love: All Caught Up

AnaNovember 20, 20143 Comments

Posts of the Week:
I just received my Field Notes Colors Edition: Ambition and was looking forward to writing and photographing my own review until I saw these two. So, kudos to Josh and Andy for setting the bar REALLY high for reviewing the latest edition.

Field Notes Winter 2014 Ambition Unboxing Video (via Woodclinched)
Field Notes: Ambition (via The Newsprint)

Pens:

Pilot V-Pen Hack (via Write to Me Often)
Vintage Value: The Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen (Cracked Ice) (via From The Pen Cup)
A.G. Spalding & Bros Bullet Roller (via Pen Addict)

Inks and Refills:

Comparison of D1 Refills (part two!) (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)
TUL Needle Point .5mm (via Gentleman Stationer)
Ink review: Lamy Coral (via Fountain Pen Physicist)
Anderson Pens’ Fox River Blues (via Inkdependence)

Notebooks and Paper:

Baron Fig Apprentice Pocket Notebooks (via Gourmet Pens)
Kaweco Zequenz A6 Notebook (via My Pen Needs Ink)
Guest post: My Life In A Pocket (via Plannerisms)

Other cool stuff:

Adventures in Stationery: Book Review (via All Things Stationery)
An Interview With Baron Fig (via Tools & Toys)
Making Mail movie is online (via Letter Writers Alliance)
Sealing the Deal, with a Chop (via Penucopia)
Wireless Chargers – Buy This not That (via Office Supply Geek)

In Book Review

Book Review: Kind Regards: The Lost Art of Letter-Writing

AnaNovember 19, 2014November 19, 2014Leave a comment

Kind Regards: The Lost Art of Letter-Writing

While I’ve been under the weather, I’ve been catching up on my back log of reading, including Kind Regards: The Lost Art of Letter-Writing by Liz Williams. Its a pretty book with short pieces about the history of letter writing as well as common references, quotes, books and movies where letters feature prominently and other tidbits about our favorite paper missives.

“Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.” – Lord Byron

This book is definitely for the letter enthusiast though it will not probing new information on the subject. As a gift to a young person, it might spur them to start writing but does not necessarily provide compelling analysis or deep investigation about the topic. Kind Regards is written in short blubs, often less than a page, which makes it easy to thumb through or read an entry or two over coffee in the morning.

Williams clearly loves the written word and provides enough interesting facts to inspire me to tackle that pile of incoming correspondence again. If you’re looking for a little something to nudge you back on to your letter-writing path, then Kind Regards: The Lost Art of Letter-Writing might be the ticket.

In Ask The Desk

Ask The Desk: Pocket Telephone Books

AnaNovember 16, 2014May 29, 20173 Comments

Looking for 2 7/8 x 4 1/8 pocket address book [ little black book]
Where can I get some ??
Sincerely, Howard

The closest I could find is from Mead or At-A-Glance. The At-A-Glance Pocket Telephone Address Book pages measure 2 1/8″ x 3 1/4″ and retail for $4.09 each. There is a larger At-A-Glance Small Designer Telephone/Address Book that’s page size measures 2 3/4″ x 4 1/4″ and retails for $8.69 each. This book also has tabbed pages with alphabetical tabs for quick look-up.

The Mead Telephone/Address book has pages that measure 2 3/8″ x 3 1/4″ and retail for $2.19 each. Mead also has a slightly larger 3×4″ version of the Mead Telephone Address Book which might be closer to your specifications for $2.49 each.

You might also check with your local office supply store or big box retailer to see if they stock these products. Best of luck on your search.

In Link Love

Link Love: Better Late Than Never

AnaNovember 16, 2014November 16, 20143 Comments

Link Love Link Mascot Sorry for the delay in this week’s Link Love. I came down with a nasty cold this week and missed a couple of prime blogging days as a result. I hope to get all caught up as soon as the NyQuil hangover wears off.

This week’s pen reviews run the gamut from office supply cabinet staples, ballpoints and some higher end fountain pens so there’s something for every price point. Enjoy!

Pens:

Pilot Vanishing Point – Matte Black (via The Finer Point)
Noodler’s Ebonite Konrad (via Gentleman Stationer)
Récife Fountain Pen (via Unroyal Warrant)
Parker 51 (via Alt. Haven)
Bic Atlantis Ballpoint (via A Penchant For Paper)
Zebra Sarasa Clip (via Gentleman Stationer)
Pentel Tradio Fountain Pen (via Write To Me Often)
Parker Jotter (via That One Pen)
Pilot G2 (via Fountain Pen Physicist)
Levenger True Writer Select Fountain Pen (via Pen Addict)

Inks:

J. Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey (via Gourmet Pens)
Diamine Coral (via A Fool With a Pen)
Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu (via Fountain Pen Physicist)
Noodler’s Bad Belted Kingfisher (via Clicky Post)

Pencils:

David Hayward Design Hexagonal Leadholder (via The Pencil Case Blog)
Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)

Paper & Notebooks:

Kaweco Zequenz Notebook (via Gourmet Pens)
EcoQua Pocket Notebooks by Fabriano (via Office Supply Geek)
Blackwing Slate Notebook (via Notebook Stories)
Baron Fig Apprentice Pocket Notebook (via My Pen Needs Ink)
Mini Emergent Task Planner Notebook (via Pen Addict)
Dotgrid Co A5 Notebook (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)
Free printable planners (via Plannerisms)

Other Interesting Stuff:

Dudek Modern Goods “Divide” (via Woodclinched)
Nib 9-1-1: Nib Tuning by Dan Smith (via From The Pen Cup)
Why Analog? (via The Cramped)
WHAT’S IN YOUR PENCIL CASE?: Poppy Chancellor (via All Things Stationery)
DIY Envelope Glue for Handmade Envelopes (via The Postman’s Knock)
NaNoWriMo – My Analogue Tools (via Pete Denison)
Time Shifting My Web Wanderings (via Modern Stationer)

In news

Diamine 150th Anniversary Ink Collection

AnaNovember 15, 2014Leave a comment

Diamine 150 years ink

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Diamine, eight new ink colors have been announced. The 1864 “Anniversary Collection” features new, triangular-shaped 40ml bottles. All the inks will be available for individual purchase and this collection will not be a limited release. For a full listing of the colors and written samples, check out this post from The Good Captain on the FPGeeks forum. I’m particularly keen on the Regency Blue, Blue-Black, Safari and Silver Fox.

Hopefully theses inks will start shipping in time for holiday stocking stuffing.

Diamine 150th Anniversary Ink Bottles

(via FP Geeks)

In Fountain Pen Review

Ka-Week-O! Review: 14K Gold BB Nib

AnaNovember 14, 2014May 27, 20174 Comments

Kaweco 14K Gold BB Nib

Have you heard about the new 14K gold nibs available from Kaweco? Ooh la la! I got the chance to try out the BB, double broad nib. By eye, it looked like a stub nib, wide and flat but when I put it to paper, it created a wide soft line. Not hard edged at all.

Kaweco 14K Gold BB Nib

The ink just poured out of this nib. It really was quite wet and super smooth. There’s a little bit of a spring to the nib but as you can see from the writing sample, it doesn’t actually flex. I suspect it has as more to do with the overall broadness of the nib than how flexible the gold nib is. I’ve never used a BB nib before. It was a lot of fun but with my small writing, it might be a bit too much nib for me.

Kaweco nib size sampler

As I was testing all these Kaweco pens this week, I was able to compare the line widths of all the various Kaweco nibs I had on hand. I have almost the full gamut available (just missing a B and the calligraphy nibs). I’ve often commented that there is very little difference that I can see between the Kaweco steel EF and F nibs and, from the sampler page, I think that stands true. It also makes it abundantly clear how much wider and darker the BB 14K nib is.

The BB nib I received is a full unit, not just the nib so, out of the box, its designed to fit onto the higher-end Kaweco fountain pens like the AL-Sport, Luxe Sport, Special, Allrounder, Elegance, Student or the Dia2. It could probably be wiggled out of the housing to fit into a standard Sport but since its a nib that will retail for around $100, is it really something you’ll add to your $25 Sport?

The 14K nib is available in the full range of sizes: EF, F, M, B and BB. There is a two-tone version available in M only.

Overall its a gorgeous nib and speaks to Kaweco’s commitment to advancing their pen line, staying true to its historical roots and listening to the numerous requests of its loyal users. And that makes me very happy.

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

Field Notes: Ambition (Winter Colors Edition is OUT!)

AnaNovember 14, 2014September 20, 20174 Comments

Field Notes is not resting on its laurels. The Winter 2014/15 Colors Edition “Ambition” is certainly an ambitious edition. The three books are stunning in rich autumny tones with gold embossed logo lettering on the cover and gold foil edges. Each notebook serves a different function: the olive cover features ledger lines (the same as what was featured in the Traveling Salesman edition – one of my favorite editions), and the wine-colored cover covers a book of graph paper, and the chocolate colored cover hides 56 pages of weekly planner pages. Get a jump start on 2015!

The paper inside each book is Cougar Opaque 50# Natural White text weight vellum and, of course, there are matching gold tone staples biding the books together.

No better time to start a Colors subscription ($97 for a year of quarterly offers plus a 3-pack of the classic Kraft editions) than with this edition. Or purchase individual sets for $9.95 per set.

Field Notes Ambition inside lines

I don’t have mine in hand yet but I cannot wait for this edition and I’ll definitely have to order additional sets. It would make a good stocking stuffer too.